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All posts for the month February, 2012

Well I am back down to 286.2 so that’s a good thing. On the bad side I have zero motivation. My weekend plans have been cancelled not once but twice. so much for keeping contact with friends. Yikes! So I think I am taking a few days off, just eating sensibly and starting back up with my diet and exercise plan next week. I don’t want to seem like Debbi Downer so I won’t bring details into it but it’s been tough week and it’s only tuesday. I am going to be gentle with myself and know when to push and when to back off a little bit and give myself the space and gentleness I need. So that’s what I am doing.

Well I survived the cardio portion of Jillian Michaels just barely. And I mean barely. I made it through the next two workouts a little easier but not by much. But I am actually gaining a little bit of weight. i don’t think i am watching my diet enough. And I think I may need to add swimming or some sort of other exercise with the program to make it work better for me. When I come back from virginia the end of next week I am going to follow the diet plan I think and see what happens. It will probably help. It is high protien low cal ketogenic. In fact for the first week there are pretty much no grains at all allowed. Then some whole grains. I’m not sure fruit is allowed the first week either. Until then I am just going to keep on trucking. I will do the best I can. My trip will kind of put my exercise on the back burner a little bit but I need a bit of a getaway and it will be good to see my friends again after so long. And I can still follow a healthy diet. Tommorow I am back into cardio mode and it will probably hurt like the dickens again but I know I can do it. i really need to get a sports bra though as there is a lot of jumping around and someone is going to get hurt lolol. These puppies have a mind of their own! Lol. Anyway, Ciao!

Well I have survived the first two days of Jillian Michael’s Body Revolution. I am not following the diet plan right now but am sticking with the exercise program and man does it kick my butt and they say that this is just the beginning and low intensity! I can feel muscles I didn’t even know I had. I did two different workouts focusing on different parts of the body and tommorow is pure cardio. I must say I am not sure I am looking forward to it. It makes me puff as it is. But I know I can do it and I am committed to doing it for the 90 days and seeing where it takes me. Hopefully someplace really good! I am taking a few short trips here and there over the next 90 days so that will give me some small breaks but I am committed to completing the program. So boo yeah!!!

This morning I went to therapy in a bit of a huff after overcoming some heavy anxiety and learned some new relaxation techiniques designed by a psychologist by Dr. Jacobs. It’s is a basically a series of 14 progresive muscle clenching and relaxation exercises. It was quite useful surprising to say. Look up Jacobian therapy in Google and you’ll find out more about it. Anyway, after a good solidly progressive session in therapy, I headed to lunch, then went to the gym where I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill walking 1.25 miles and 15 minutes on the stepper. another 45 minutes down. It was a push to get through but I did it with flying colors. Got home just in the nick of time to pick liam up from the bus and meet Peter at home from work and off we headed to Dickson city for dinner, shopping for healthy food and beverages, and craft supplies to work on some projects. Overall it was a pretty productive day! Tomorow I have to write down my goals for next week and since I was a little over ambitious this week I am aiming for less elevated, more reachable goals. And more specific ones. Oh and as for the U turn queen that’s me. I made the wrong turn going completely in the wrong direction and ended up completely in the wrong city and the gps was of course dead so we finally had to ask for help as a gas station after multiple, MULTIPLE U turns lol. OOPS! Life with me is always an adventure!!!!

Okay, I have discovered my new favorite healthy snack food next to beanitos: kale chips. Specifially mexican spiced Kale chips. They are awesome. They came in my order from www.therawfoodworld.com today which included mexican spiced kale chips, dijon kale chips, krusts, and thai coconut sugar. All good healthy foods, in moderation of course. Im addition, my day was spent primarily relaxing, catching up on a penpal/swapbot project, and working out on my exercise bike. Nothing too exciting. Especially in this weather. It was snowy and beautiful today but I am not a big fan of driving in the snow. Tommorow on the agenda, I have a morning therapy appointment followed by hopefully a trip to the gym. I also have to go to the post office. And I need to go to the craft shop and pick up a few more bits and pieces for some projects. But at least I got my exercise in. And I ate fairly healthy today too. I had a small bowl of butternut squash soup for brunch, a glucerna shake and a fiber one bar for late afternoon, and chicken and veggie whole wheat pasta for dinner. And for an evenign snack I had some beanitos and a zero calorie lifewater. So that’s abotu it. Still waiting to hear back abotu the echo. But hopefully no news is good news. We’ll have to see!

Today was a full day. I started off by finishing reading the book about forgiveness I menitoned uyeserday and reading febraury’s issue of Self magazine. Then hopped out of bed and made a bell pepper, spinach, and rasperry smoothie for breakfast. Soon after, it was time for my echo cardiogram which is basically a non invasive but comprehensive ultrasound examination of the heart. It was incredible to see. The tech showed me my valves, aorta, atriums, and ventircles. She let me listen to the different valves in the heart. And she explained everything as she went. It was really nice to see what i had learned in school up on the screen to see. She said that she had to make some measurements and calculations later to get my ejectrion fraction etc. and then my cardiologist would read it and let me know in the enxt few days the results. But she saw nothing terribly alarming on the screen which was good to hear 🙂 So yes boys and girls, I do have a heart 🙂

After my foray into cardiopulmonary science, I splurged on a nice lunch of steamed clams and baked haddock with fresh vegetables and lots of water and some unsweetened iced tea. Then it was off to the gym. I have stayed away from weights because I have been a little fearful that they would cause pain after my last episodes but, I am too stubborn to let things hold me back for too long so I worked my ass off on the weights for forty minutes then on the recombent cross trainer for 10 minutes. I paid for it afterwards and I am very tired right now but it was worth it to work out my muscles and feel some strength coming back. For those of you who wish to know today’s routine:

Machine Bench Press:

40 lb x 20 reps (+37 pts)

40 lb x 20 reps (+37 pts)

EZ-Bar Curl:

40 lb x 20 reps (+22 pts)

40 lb x 20 reps (+22 pts)

Seated Cable Row:

55 lb x 30 reps (+38 pts)

55 lb x 10 reps (+31 pts)

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown:

55 lb x 30 reps (+36 pts)

55 lb x 10 reps (+29 pts)

Leg Press:

130 lb x 25 reps (+33 pts)

130 lb x 25 reps (+33 pts)

130 lb x 20 reps (+31 pts)

Leg Extensions:

70 lb x 20 reps (+18 pts)

70 lb x 20 reps (+18 pts)

Abductor Machine:

75 lb x 20 reps (+16 pts)

75 lb x 20 reps (+16 pts)

Stair Machine:

0:10:00 (+63 pts)

Adductor Machine:

75 lb x 20 reps (+16 pts)

75 lb x 20 reps (+16 pts)

Seated Leg Curl:

70 lb x 20 reps (+18 pts)

70 lb x 20 reps (+18 pts)

Ab Crunch Machine:

50 lb x 20 reps (+15 pts)

50 lb x 20 reps (+15 pts)

Weighted Hyperextension:

50 lb x 20 reps (+15 pts)

50 lb x 20 reps (+15 pts)

Decline EZ Bar Triceps Extension:

40 lb x 20 reps (+14 pts)

40 lb x 20 reps (+14 pts)

So that’s my day in a nutshell! Hope you all had a great and productive day!!